Confirmation Hearing: ILikeVerin (Forum Affairs)

[Emsworth]

I call the hearing on ILikeVerin's nomination as Secretary of Forum Affairs to order.

[MasterJedi]

I don't have any problems voting for ilikeverin as long as he stays active (especially during election times) and he swears he won't run for the Senate! j/k.

[ilikeverin]

Thank you Mr. Senator.  No Sims 2 expansion packs are expected to come out between now and August, so we're all clear then

I will be inactive at least on Saturday, though.  Harry Potter

[MasterJedi]

Thank you Mr. Senator.  No Sims 2 expansion packs are expected to come out between now and August, so we're all clear then

I will be inactive at least on Saturday, though.  Harry Potter

Haha, same here, you've gotten my vote.

[King]

Mr. Verin, I have two starting questions:

(1)  Do you have the tools necessary to continue the registered voter archiving of the previous Secretaries (a.k.a. office software)?

(2)  Are you awake at 12AM Eastern on Fridays and Mondays to open, close, and certify the election results?

[Sam Spade]

I have a question:

Mr. Verin, will you be proposing a law to require that all voters pronounce your name correctly, otherwise their votes will not be counted?

[ilikeverin]

Mr. Verin, I have two starting questions:

(1) Do you have the tools necessary to continue the registered voter archiving of the previous Secretaries (a.k.a. office software)?

I have MS Office software.  Additionally, I plan to make a small site with registered voter information instead of the pdfs used earlier, so those that do not or cannot have Acrobat software can access the voter rolls

You must be logged in to read this quote.

First of all, the results do not have to be certified at 12AM, the Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Act says that results should be certified as soon as 'humanly possible'.  Unless I magically sleepwalk to Atlas and do the tabulation, I think certifying results in one's sleep is definitely superhuman

Additionally, Section 3, Somethingorother 3 (I've never figured out what is directly below a Section ) is this:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this case, I think that another officer could take my place (potentially as co-administrator?) to open and close the ballot box at the times proscribed.  Either way, I'm sure there will be some way to overcome the obstacle of senseless parental regulation that satisfies all

I have a question:

Mr. Verin, will you be proposing a law to require that all voters pronounce your name correctly, otherwise their votes will not be counted?

I would be concerned about disenfranchising voters that do not have a microphone so I can determine whether they pronounced my name correctly

[Colin]

First a silly question:

Will you still use an insane amount of smilies as SoFA or will you tone down the similies for federal office?

And a serious one:

What are your views on the secret ballot and on preferential voting?

[King]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this case, I think that another officer could take my place (potentially as co-administrator?) to open and close the ballot box at the times proscribed.  Either way, I'm sure there will be some way to overcome the obstacle of senseless parental regulation that satisfies all

What if that obstacle is not overcome and somebody, such as your Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, does all the work?  With somebody else doing all the elections why we would we need you?

Your human possible quote might work, but it could also create the mess of Lewis Trondheim/True Democrat again and I wouldn't want that to happen.

[ilikeverin]

First a silly question:

Will you still use an insane amount of smilies as SoFA or will you tone down the similies for federal office?

What do you think?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I support a secret ballot; I think all the reasons have been well spelled out by Joe Republic.

As far as preferential voting, I personally prefer Condorcet voting.  It allows more moderate candidates to win, which I believe would stymie rabid partisanship, or at least make it backfire (if two candidates hate each other and there is a moderate candidate that they are both neutral on, then the middle candidate will win, keeping both extreme factions somewhat pacified)  Due to the many condorcet calculators online, tabulation shall not be a problem, and I could attempt to do a hand count if necessary.  In this case, preferential voting would be my second preference (har har).  I would adamantly oppose any return to FPTP, even with a runoff, as I believe this would be serious backpedaling.  I have yet to be convinced of the merits of approval voting.  However, my opinion is not that fixed (besides opposition to FPTP), so I could still be swayed to support another voting method.

[ilikeverin]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this case, I think that another officer could take my place (potentially as co-administrator?) to open and close the ballot box at the times proscribed.  Either way, I'm sure there will be some way to overcome the obstacle of senseless parental regulation that satisfies all

What if that obstacle is not overcome and somebody, such as your Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, does all the work?  With somebody else doing all the elections why we would we need you?

For one, there is more to the SoFA job than opening and closing election booths, so I wouldn't be doing 'nothing'.

Additionally, I believe that the other person would not be doing everything with regards to elections.  One idea would be to appoint someone whose sole purpose is to open and close/lock the election thread (a moderator, perhaps?); I would rule on valid/invalid votes, tabulate the final results, make the ballot and so on.  If this does not appear to be 'legal', all it would take would be a small bill to change parts of the Omnibus Election Act.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Do any of us want that?   Either way, the votes must be counted, no matter what 'mess' happens.

[MHS2002]

Pretty much all of my questions have been asked and answered in this thread. I will vote Aye.

[jokerman]

You've got my vote

[minionofmidas]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this case, I think that another officer could take my place (potentially as co-administrator?) to open and close the ballot box at the times proscribed.  Either way, I'm sure there will be some way to overcome the obstacle of senseless parental regulation that satisfies all

What if that obstacle is not overcome and somebody, such as your Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, does all the work?  With somebody else doing all the elections why we would we need you?

Your human possible quote might work, but it could also create the mess of Lewis Trondheim/True Democrat again and I wouldn't want that to happen.

Indeed. That was all your fault. You could've just certified what I wanted you to certify if you hadn't gone to bed minutes before I made my announcement.

Oh wait, that was well past midnight in New York...

[King]

It is my recommendation as a former Secretary of Forum Affairs that we defeat this nomination.  This is a powerful position that requires leadership, dedication, and experience.  I could not handle such a task and I do not believe Verin can either.  There are plenty of others who have been interested in the job in the past and we may have some others who are interested now that are far more qualified than the nominee we have in front of us. 

I respect Mr. Verin and believe he has the potential to be a fine member of the Atlasia Government.  However, I do not believe he has yet earned the title as important to this nation as Secretary of Forum Affairs.

[PBrunsel]

No questions. I have known verin long enough.

Now I guess I haven to run for Midwest Governor since there are no other candidates! (And I don't want BRTD getting the seat.)

[jokerman]

My vote will be an Aye but I will not be here to cast it.

[Emsworth]

My vote will be an Aye but I will not be here to cast it.

Just to note, I will count this absentee vote as valid.

[Colin]

I have one more question for Verin:

Do you know how to use Adobe Acrobat, Excel or the other programs needed to maintain the voter list as it currently stands? Do you have webspace available that will be able to host the voter list file for access by the Atlasian people?

[ilikeverin]

I have one more question for Verin:

Do you know how to use Adobe Acrobat, Excel or the other programs needed to maintain the voter list as it currently stands?

I know how to use Excel, which I plan to use, and I also know html, which I also plan to use in place of Acrobat (so whether or not I know how to use Acrobat is moot)

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Yes, I do.  I plan to use my account at t35.com.

[Colin]

Do you believe that a commission should investigate the possibility of changing our current voting system to something other than preferential voting? Do you believe that this commission should also investigate the possibility of a secret ballot?

[MasterJedi]

Can we get a vote here or something and fill this position?

[PBrunsel]

Can we get a vote here or something and fill this position?

I second this.

[Emsworth]

Can we get a vote here or something and fill this position?

Sen. Wixted has a question that is still unanswered, so I do not think that I should open a vote right now.

Seventy-two hours of debate will have expired later today; then, I will have to open the vote, regardless of whether ILV answers the question.

[Sam Spade]

I would like to petition for extending this debate and question time 48 more hours if Colin's question is not answered above.